EXCITING times are ahead for 12 lucky athletes in the region, with the Limestone Coast Regional Sporting Academy (LCRSA) pilot training program starting next week.
After a thorough selection process, the final choices have been made and the young athletes are eager to take part in the 12 month program which will start Tuesday.
“It’s pretty exciting for the athletes,” LCRSA coordinator Tony Elletson said.
“We’ve had to go through a selection process involved with the state sporting organisations and cut down a list of about 65 to 12 across the region.
“We were lucky to get eight athletes in the Mount Gambier and District region who will be training twice a week.”
These athletes – Mount Gambier’s Thomas Bignell, Connor Prior, Hannah Elliott, Jade Delaney, Madi Freeman, Cody Lewis and Brock Keding, plus Tantanoola’s Georgia Clarke – specialise in a range of sports and have already competed at high levels, whether it be on the state or national stage.
Millicent’s Brad Hann, Naracoorte’s Kynen Adams and Zachary Walker, along with Keith’s Jaxon Rayner also made it through the selection process and will mirror the Mount Gambier athletes as they complete the program.
The strength and conditioning program will offer the young athletes an insight into what it is like to live and train as an elite athlete.
“They’ll start the first of their strength and conditioning sessions next week and will train twice a week for 12 months,” Elletson said.
“They will also have education workshops to attend.
“These will look at things like media training, public speaking, resilience, goal setting, diet, nutrition and also managing athletes from a family perspective.”
Helping the young athletes on their journey will be coaches Andy Costin and Lisa Barker, who went through a tough procedure of their own to be selected for the task.
Elletson said the preparation process has been a long one, but he could not be happier with the end results.
“The athletes we have are first class,” he said.
“There are state baseballers, there’s a girl who’s looking at the AFLW and a couple of girls who are on the spectrum of the Australian hockey side,” he said.
“We are hoping in the next couple of years – using this as a spring board – they can get to the next level of elite sport.
“We are trying to close the gap that regional athletes have compared to metro athletes.”
The initial 12 months will be a trial run for the program, with the LCRSA aiming to expand its horizons in years to come.
Elletson said the overall goal will increase the size of the academy and eventually cater for sport specific training courses.
“We’ll roll this out for 12 months with these 12 lucky athletes,” he said.
“Then in the background we will be working with the state sporting organisations.
“That I think is going to be the really important thing, partnering up with those state bodies and making sure what we are offering them here is exactly what they are getting in Adelaide.”
With so much talent in the region, Elletson hopes the academy will eventually help eliminate the hurdle of travelling, which young regional athletes are often faced with.
“We did some testing earlier in the year in Naracoorte and Mount Gambier – Australian Institute of Sport basic testing – and every school tested above average,” Elletson said.
“There is an enormous amount of talent in regional areas and now it’s just about giving them the opportunity to get to that next step.
“They are going to have to travel if they get to a high level, we understand that, but the more we can minimise it the better.”
